Page 99 - Microsoft Word

Puerto Cumarebo, Venezuela, 1983. It was very shocking for me to arrive to an unknown country without knowing anyone, unable to speak the same language and, moreover, to see the way that people used to live. Children and adults walked half - naked, wearing slippers. Most lived in ugly houses, made of blocks and sheets of plate, but very clean.

In the morning, after my husband left for work, I drove myself to the beach and delighted me to watch the fishermen. I watched all those flimsy wooden boats reaching the shore, powered by the strength of a tiny motor. Lots of people were waiting in the bustling docks to buy fish. Some were merchants, owners of fishmongers; others simply enjoyed the very fresh fish. As the meat was expensive, they resorted to fish for food daily. Every day I learned with them, watching them, studying the way they preceded.

The inhabitants of those regions, close to the sea, make very large patties with corn flour which they call "empanadas", typical food for everyday breakfast. Their mothers cooked them and children flocked to the beach to sell them, bringing money home. At first, I looked curiously those old aluminum pots or the styrofoam chests, used to maintain warm the “empanadas”, not knowing what it was. And every those small sellers strove to be the first to draw near to the boats that docked! For me, they just seemed a bunch of crooks, badly dressed and unkempt. But over time I got used and I realized that it was not what I thought. They were just poor children. The little they had was enough to let them be always happy. I still have in memory the smell of that fish, those “empanadas”, that excited gang, that unforgettable Caribbean Sea.

Page 99 - Microsoft Word - CMA BOOK_2

Page 99 - Microsoft Word - CMA BOOK_2